One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant dill in Madison can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dill

Frost tolerance for dill:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant dill slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dill in Madison is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dill and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your dill may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dill indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Madison the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madison and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Madison it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your dill in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Madison.